06-08-2008
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#136 (permalink) |
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toe in water
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pleasant Hill, CA
Posts: 46
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Thanks for the reply. My husband will be sooo happy to hear it is still there since he ate there almost every night the last time we were there
 He even asked the owner to show him how to make the chimichurri sauce for the steak
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06-09-2008
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#137 (permalink) |
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ruined
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Pueblo SacBe, Playa del Carmen
Posts: 97
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So I drop off my overheating truck with my favorite mechanic on 25th. Its past lunch time and I am craving a veggie burger at the great-but-expensive little place on 4th and 25th . . . oh no, too expensive, they're gone. Anxiety sets in as I walk up 4th toward 30th, but then across from Mom's Hotel I spot this clean quaint little place with a great looking menu. I vaguely remember seeing it listed in VARIOUS PLACES TO EAT: La Carmela. The food is awesome. A chat with Carmen reveals that she recently created, and so far runs it herself, drawing from wisdom gained from earlier Playa adventures. I'll be back often!
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06-10-2008
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#138 (permalink) |
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lost on fifth
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 24
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Check out `THE GARDEN OF EATING` !
Hola Dpreefer....
I`m Karen and I would like to add another breakfast spot that I have just opened on my property here in Playa. It has been my home for 8 years, but recently decided  to share my plants and garden for a breakfast spot and so `The GARDEN OF EATING` was born... my friend Diane is a great and inspired chef... we started off simply with good old hearty egg and bacon faithfuls with fresh squeezed orange juice, and are now adding more and more dee-licious dishes to the offering. Babbling waterfall and my palapa house now serving as the kitchen are the background. Competitive prices....Please come on in and review us on your next trip. We are at Calle 20, between 10 and 15.... open 8 to 12 every day except Monday. Easy directions - go west 1 block from Senor Frog`s on Fifth.....We look forward to meeting you.Karen and Diane 
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06-10-2008
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#139 (permalink) |
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way into it
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 190
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And 'Hola' back to you
Karen, you are a brave woman. Anyone opening a new eating establishment certainly is an optimist (not anticipating the problems and the hard work) and probably a little bit crazy to boot, but the desire to invite strangers to your home and to make them comfortable and welcome while nourishing them is one of the highest recommendations for any individual. My sincerest congratulations and best wishes for success.
I think that there is room for a dedicated breakfast place in Playa (usually such establishments extend to lunch as well..........and hopefully so shall you) and I am intrigued by the combination of your palapa house, gardens and waterfall. It sounds like just the place to start the day off right. Just to clarify your message, I assume you are saying that the name of your restaurant is BULB and that you open at 8 in the morning and close at noon, and that when you hit Sr. Frogs on 5th (20th Street) and turn left, we will find you TWO blocks up the road between 10th and 15th. I just want all of your new customers to find your location without trouble, and find that you are open for business when they get there. I will absolutely stop by for your breakfast fare on my next trip and look forward to meeting Diane and yourself when I do. From your description, Bulb sounds a lot like Cueva de Chango, which is one of my favorite breakfast places in Playa (great chilaquiles!) and I am sure we all wish you equal success. |
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06-10-2008
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#140 (permalink) | |
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añejo
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tyler, Texas
Posts: 5,044
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Quote:
A' |
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06-10-2008
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#141 (permalink) |
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lost on fifth
Join Date: Mar 2006
Posts: 24
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The Garden Of Eating (Jardin de Comer)
Hello Dpreefer,
Hi thanks for your quick response, yes I guess I could be a bit crazy, but it was this or go back to my 16 hour stress filled day job in the Toronto film industry. I opted for more time here in Playa, with daughter, friends and hot weather. Just to clarify, the name we selected is "The Garden of Eating" (Jardin de Comer) and we are located, yes, one block and a half west on Calle 20 from Senor Frogs at Fifth. We hope to eventually open for lunch and then one day, dinner, Diane is chomping at the bit (pardon the pun) to try out some fancy dinner dishes, but we thought it best to start with breakfasts. You only live once, and I have always wanted to do this.... so do it we are.... looking forward to meeting you on your next trip... Karen |
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06-10-2008
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#143 (permalink) |
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life=playa
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Calgary AB
Posts: 518
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Too bad we didn't know about the Garden of Eating last wk - would have definately stopped by but will still in 3 wks time - looking forward to it. So thought we'd just add a few comments to a few places we visited last wk during our gastronomic extravaganza!
Pinche Gringos' upon arrival first night, for the inevitable shrimp tacos and a delicious salad (can't remember the name - it wasn't mine!) Asked if the magical tamarindo sauce was for sale and they let us buy a bottle - yeah!! Hechizo - Tulum - Simply put OMG Fantastic.....see our comments on Hechizo thread. A truly unique experience and everything was delicious - well worth the drive. 1 hr drive from PDC on good road all the way. On beach, completely enclosed with palapa roof and glass front - some outside tables but pouring with rain when we went. Only 9 tables, 3 used at a time, seatings spaced 1 hr apart so chef can cook for each table individually. Reservations required. El Cielo - XpuHa beach - V. romantic, quiet, the most beautiful beach setting - upscale gourmet fare. Not quite as upscale or exciting as Hechizo but way up there! Beautifully made up tables under a palapa roof so semi open air. If its rainy and blowy they just put up some plastic and fabric and carry on! If you want a romantic beach dinner this is perfect and not far from Playa - about 15 mins drive. There was an engagement dinner for 4 while we were there and they had sprinkled the table with rose petals with a vase of fresh roses...beautiful. Reservations required. This place is also a boutique hotel and has 4 beach cabanas - very simple but tasteful. Beds are rock hard tho and that is our ONLY complaint! So we got to have breakfast, lunch and dinner here and all was fabulous. Breakfast: Homemade granola with yoghurt and huge plate of fruit, various egg dishes available all accompanied with toast and homemade jam/local honey. Fresh OJ, coffee. Couldn't eat it all! Lunch: Same menu as dinner so you can experience the same thing during the day if you choose instead. We had goat cheese stuffed peppers on a basil pesto and shrimp ceviche (in a tomato base sauce) and scallop ceviche (in a cilantro based green sauce), and ceasar salad. Dressing was too creamy for our taste but still yummy. Finished with tarte tatin and creme brulee.....the latter was probably one of the best ever had - lovely and light. Dinner: Still stuffed from lunch so no appy's. We had grilled jumbo prawns with a lovely salad....think it actually said sunflower sprouts ? and rack of lamb with mashed potato. Dessert was the warm chocolate lava cake. Lovely fresh ingredients and service very fast and efficient. Media Luna - Thought we would try out the newly renovated and downsized menu. Do not fear folks....it is still delicious and really plenty to choose from. You get a good birdseye view of 5th from upstairs now and its v clean. We had a delicious tomato chipotle soup which had melted cheese in the bottom and an island of guacamole with a few tostada chips on top. V. tasty and filling in itself! Also had a baked feta cheesebake with pita. Followed by the daily special of achiote jumbo shrimp with grilled vegetables and the other dish was grilled herb shrimp with rice and veggies. Washed down with wickedly strong jamaica margs, we sadly had no room for dessert  Happy to say it can stay on the list!Dona Mary - 30th Ave and 28th St Another place we've been wanting to try for ages but knew it was best to go with a spanish speaking local to translate, and now after it has made it into a canadian newspaper article....we just had to go! Well....it was tremendous! If you want local homemade yucatecan cooking - come here! Opens at 7pm, gets v busy later on. Only spanish speaking  We had CALDO - a chicken broth based soup with shredded chicken then you add your own toppings like onion, cilantro, chile, and there was something else but I can't remember! Caldo Especial is the same but with added chicken parts (like liver  ....nope we'll just have caldo gracias!) We also had PANUCHO - basically a corn tortilla that has been fried until it puffs up and filled with frijolles. Comes topped with shredded chicken, onions, tomatoes, avocado and you put your own sauce on. Holding it in 2 hands, its piled about 3" high, you push the middle down and fold it a bit so its like a stuffed taco! Not sharable! We also had SALBUTES - similar to the panucho but the base tortilla is fried till it puffs then the same toppings added and eaten in the same way. Simple but delicious. Apparently you eat it over the soup so the bits that fall off go into the soup! After the panuchos and salbutes the soup tasted almost smokey. Wow. So for 4 people we had 3 caldos, 4 salbutes, 4 panuchos, 3 flans, 4 drinks all for 240 pesos. Can't beat that and we were stuffed - the big guys too!El Pastorcito - Right opposite Dona Mary was this other place that is on the 'list' we've wanted to try so for the last night back we went! Ample seating, can get pastor tacos 'to go' on the street next to kitchen. Bathrooms not nice tho!! Our local friends with us from the night before said they thought the best Tacos al pastor are at El Pastorcito. He was not wrong! yummy.....also had 'No que no' which is chile (poblano I think) grilled and sliced up with melted cheese with 5 tacos and guacamole ( guac too salty we thought). Also had a v large taco loco (like at El Fogon). So in all plus 3 drinks......120 pesos!! We had every intention of breakfasting at the carts at least once, but we were completely spoiled as the carts (or similar but from localville) were brought to us by our local friends. Cochinita pibil (pulled pork in achiote) and trimmings 1 day, carnitas and trimmings (dry roasted pork) another, homemade chile rellenos another and finally 3 types of tamales....1 stuffed with pork, 1 with chaya and beans and the other some sort of mixed veg and possibly minced chicken. Found the tamale to be a bit dry.....but then again we didn't get to them till lunch and had to heat them up so not sure what they were like first thing in the morning! As we were leaving we noticed Dr Taco's new location has finally reopened....it hadn't all week. There is a new gelato place (can't remember the name ...something Gelato - on opposite side of 5th to Ciao Gelato but v close a little further south. Walked past Hole in the Wall a few times - closed every time so maybe they're on holidays. We also went to Tango Taco.....most things were great, but I personally prefer the empanadas at La Portena and El Emporio on 38th St. And having read about these pomegranite tequila margarita's - they were awesome! And again....not enough meals in a week. Must apologise no pics....never have camera out ready and waiting before meal and empty plates don't look so good
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06-11-2008
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#145 (permalink) | |
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añejo
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Tyler, Texas
Posts: 5,044
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Quote:
A'ndrea |
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06-11-2008
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#146 (permalink) |
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ruined
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 95
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Karen, that sounds like a great place & concept. I wish we'd known about it last week. Good luck!
I also wanted to throw in my opinion on a place I didn't see on the list: Mandarina's Cafe (Pizza & Champagne). It's located at 5th & 14th by the dip. It's upscale Italian with gourmet pizzas. It was a little expensive, but we ordered a bottle of wine that was 450 pesos. The pizzas were good, although a bit heavy on the cheese. They offer an extensive wine list, after dinner cigars, and live piano music. |
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06-11-2008
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#147 (permalink) | |
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life=playa
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Calgary AB
Posts: 518
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Quote:
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06-12-2008
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#148 (permalink) |
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beachaholic
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Bucks County, PA
Posts: 428
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"As we were leaving we noticed Dr Taco's new location has finally reopened....it hadn't all week. "
Does this mean that the old location no longer exists??? I need to get my fix and need to know where to go to get my shrimp and fish tacos?? Please let me know where it's located. Also, we wanted to try HC Monterray(sp??) when we go. I remember reading there are two locations. Is one better than the other? Where is it located? Which one is recommended and what food should I order. I want to hear what everyone's favorite dish is at HC. THANK YOU!! EDIT: I checked the list but want to verify that the original Dr. Taco is still open and that the originial HC is still on Calle 1 between 20 and 25. Last edited by Loafster; 06-12-2008 at 10:04 AM. |
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06-12-2008
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#149 (permalink) | |
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life=playa
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Calgary AB
Posts: 518
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Quote:
HC....Really only go there for the Arrachera which is the specialty. You'll have a choice of National (mexican) or US grade beef.....go for the national - tenderer. have read someone had a steak there once and not up to snuff (go to Chicago Don Jose for excellent steak). Plate of arrachera comes with a baked spud and/or baked onion, 1/2 avocado, small pot of lemon salsa and sour cream.....mix together to make your own guac - yummy. The original HC changed location and is now located on Constituentes opposite Mega (between 25th Y 30 Ave). This one is open later now so you can go for supper. The original location on calle 1 sur (between 15 Y 20 ave) still serves the same apparently and goes by the name of CH - but is a different company....some say same food but havn't tried the new CH (Super Carnes?) yet. Closes earlier I think around 7pm. |
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